


the elements series

by onlyeverthus



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Post-Episode AU: s02e13 Doomsday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-04
Updated: 2016-02-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 07:10:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5904139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/onlyeverthus/pseuds/onlyeverthus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor helps Rose heal after the destruction of the parallel world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. air

The air is thick with smoke and Rose can't breathe for it. She coughs violently, falling to her knees amid the ruins of Torchwood. Her nose and throat burn and tears stream down her cheeks. She feels as though she is covered in blood and she is not very wrong. Her knees sting from the debris she's kneeling on but she can't stand. Not yet.

All Rose Tyler can do is stare out at the destruction all around her: all that's left of Torchwood, of London, the entire world.

She's the only one left. She doesn't know how she knows, but she does. There is no one.

There's a crash nearby and Rose jumps, cowering as she looks around for the source. She doesn't find it but hears nothing else and relaxes ever so slightly.

Rose closes her eyes and tries to breathe, wishing the air were clear. She wonders if moving would even help. Afraid if she moves, they'll come back.

They'd come from the skies, given no warning and showed no mercy and after just a matter of hours-

_-hours, oh dear God-_

-the world is gone, the planet dead along with her six billion inhabitants.

Except for Rose.

She doesn't know how she is still alive, how she's been missed, but she has.

It isn't a terribly desirable way to be.

A sob escapes Rose's lips as she pushes herself to stand, her entire body protesting.

She's completely lost. There is no precedence in her life for anything even remotely like this and she doesn't know what to do.

First in her mind is the desire to breathe clean air and so this is what she sets out to find.

She doesn't know if she will.

She walks gingerly along, keeping her eyes on her feet in a concerted effort to avoid looking at the bodies scattered around her.

Her hair is in her face and she pushes it back, feels that it's sticky. Her stomach turns and her hand drops to her side.

She keeps walking, keeps her head down. She is afraid to see the faces of the dead, knowing it would make it all too real.

*****

She has been walking for a day now.

Unaware of when exactly the sun rose this morning, the smoke and haze still so thick, all she knows is that it is brighter now than it was before.

She has not stopped and she has not rested. Her lungs ache now with every breath she takes, the smoke burning with every inhalation.

She is holding out for that breath of fresh air. She knows it is coming. She will rest then.

The city is behind her now. She doesn't know where she is, but it doesn't matter.

The houses that line the road are all either on fire or blackened heaps.

The air smells of burning wood and rubber and plastic, and something else that Rose can identify but doesn't want to think about.

A tree begins to fall and Rose watches as it gains momentum. It crashes into a house, splitting it down the middle and causing the flames to leap into the air, quickly igniting the tree as well.

Rose continues on.

*****

The sky is darkening again, the sun setting after a weary day of lighting a dead world.

The houses are beginning to thin out now and nature is encroaching.

The air already feels lighter but is still heavy with smoke.

Not what she wants, but she feels it is close.

There is a new sound. Engines.

Rose slows, her heart rising into her throat. _They're coming back_ , she thinks, and wonders if she can hide. If there's even a point.

But as she listens, she realizes these are not the same engines.

And when she realizes what engines they are, she thinks she's gone mad.

Even as the blue box materializes in front of her, just down the road, she thinks it's a hallucination.

The door opens and the sound is so achingly familiar it brings tears to Rose's eyes.

He steps out, brown suit, blue shirt, and stares around, horrified.

Rose still does not know if he is real but she picks up her pace.

His gaze falls on her and his expression is something she can't describe. But there is joy, and there is relief.

He holds his hand out and Rose begins to run, ignoring the burning in her chest, the stiffness in her legs, the blisters on her feet.

Then he is there, sweeping her into his arms, and she holds him, hardly daring to believe he is real, even now.

But it feels like him and it smells like him. When he pulls away and takes her face in his hands, his eyes are full of concern. He's saying something that she's not hearing, but it is his voice.

She's crying now, unsure when she started, and he leads her into the blue box, away from this burning parallel world that is no longer her home.

He is her air, this is her home, and she is safe.


	2. water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Water doesn't wash away everything.

He holds her close as he leads her into the TARDIS, still unable to believe what has just happened.

The wheeze of her breath concerns him.

He pushes a button once they reach the console and an oxygen mask falls down. He slips it over her head, gently urging her to breathe.

There is dried blood in her hair and on her skin and he worries about how much of it might be hers.

She breathes in the oxygen for a few minutes more and the Doctor is relieved to hear the wheeze has gone. He removes the mask and Rose panics. He holds her and assures her she can have more if she needs it once they reach the infirmary. She looks vaguely reassured and allows him to lead her back to the infirmary. He sits her down on the examination table and begins to wash her skin with a damp cloth, cleaning away the blood and dirt, checking for injuries.

Beyond a few superficial scratches, the scrapes on her knees, and the blisters on her feet she is remarkably unscathed.

He wants to know what happened, how Rose came to be covered in so much blood, but there is a haunted look in her eyes that prevents him from asking. Instead he offers her more oxygen. She takes a pull and then catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror on the wall.

The Doctor has only cleaned what he needed to in order to examine her and she is horrified by her reflection. She doesn't speak but he knows what she needs. He tells her that her room is still hers.

She leaves and the Doctor stands still a moment, holding the dirty, bloody rag in his hands before moving to toss it in a bin under the sink.

He puts the oxygen away and stands still another moment, bracing himself before walking from the infirmary, heading for Rose's room.

He stands in the doorway of a room he has not looked into since she was taken from him.

It is exactly as she left it, if a little dusty, though her return has already stirred up the stale air.

He steps tentatively forward, careful not to disturb anything, and sits on the bed.

She is still in the shower and he waits for her to finish. He gazes around the room at all the reminders that he has been unable to look at until now.

It is still painful to see. The Rose who left all these things behind is not the same Rose standing in the shower now, washing the remnants of her home-

_-never really her home-_

-from her body.

The dresser is covered with makeup and hair accessories, the mirror draped with scarves.

A pair of jeans is draped over the foot of the bed, a pink t-shirt crumpled on top.

The Doctor reaches over and just barely brushes the shirt with his fingertips.

He hears the water turn off and withdraws his hand.

A moment later the bathroom door opens and Rose steps out, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. Her clothes are bigger on her and the Doctor notices now that she has lost weight since he last saw her.

He moves over and she sits down beside him.

They are silent a moment and the Doctor turns to Rose. He has to know what happened but she doesn't have to speak. He can go into her mind and he asks if she remembers seeing him do this before.

Rose nods and turns to face him.

The Doctor raises his hands to Rose's temple, feeling the dampness of her hair, close enough now to smell her gardenia body wash. She closes her eyes and he does too, reaching into her mind, searching her memories. It doesn't take long to see the large ships descending from the sky, to see the immediate destruction. He can feel Rose's shock and disbelief, but most of all he can feel her fear and it hurts.

He watches the as the destruction continues and then the scene abruptly changes to one of utter ruin. He feels Rose's realization that she's the only one left and there is a wave of loneliness so deep and it _hurts_.

Rose gasps suddenly and grabs his hands. He withdraws as fast as he can and opens his eyes.

Tears stream down Rose's cheeks and he can almost feel what she feels as she gasps for air through her sobs, as though she is drowning. He pulls her to him and she comes easily, clinging to him. He strokes her wet hair and holds her tightly.

The water has washed away the surface dirt but it cannot reach what lingers beneath, and there is a current of pain and loneliness that threatens to pull her all the way down.

He knows because he has been in this current before, and he will help her fight the pull, just as she once helped him.


	3. fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes all you can do is succumb to the fire.

When he climbs out from under the console, Rose is no longer in the room. She had been sitting on one of the jumpseats, reading a book, but now she has gone.

The Doctor brushes his suit off, checks the monitor, and sets off in search of Rose.

He is unsurprised to find her in her room. Her book is on the corner of the dresser, in front of which she is standing, staring at the mirror.

The Doctor shifts so he can see what she's looking at and realizes she is staring at the pictures taped to the mirror. He is more surprised to notice that she is dry-eyed. She looks up at him, but says nothing. She has yet to speak since he found her, and he is not at all sure if she will again.

He starts to leave but she touches his shoulder and he turns. She is close now and she looks up at him, her eyes searching his face a moment before she stands on her toes and lightly presses her lips to his.

He is surprised and does not return the kiss.

He stares at her, asks if this is what she really wants. She nods and pulls him to her, kissing him again with an intensity he has not felt before from her.

His hand rises to the back of her neck, his fingers tangling in her hair. He wants this as much as she does, if not more. He has missed the feel of her in his arms, her skin under his fingertips, her lips pressed to his. He has ached for it in the lonely hours of the night and he feels hot desire coursing through him.

Rose pushes his jacket from his shoulders and he lets it fall to the floor. He quickly pulls his tie off and his fingers find the edge of Rose's shirt, pulling it over her head. He smoothes her hair back with both hands, his lips finding hers again. She tugs at his shirt, untucking it and unfastening the buttons, her fingers quick and nimble. He shrugs it off and she runs her hands down his chest. A shiver runs through him and he closes his eyes briefly as his hands grasp Rose's hips and he pulls her closer, his fingers moving to undo her jeans. He pushes them down, knickers included, and they move back towards the bed.

Rose sits, reaches back to unhook her bra as the Doctor hastily removes his pants and he bends to her, kissing her again, pushing her back onto the bed. Her hands grip his torso as they move, holding tight to him. Her chest rises rapidly, her skin flushed and warm and the Doctor kisses her neck, his hand moving slowly down over her breasts and stomach, tracing curves he has not followed in so long.

Her breath is hot on his ear and she pulls him up, pressing her lips to his hungrily. Her knees bend, tightening at his waist, and he slides inside of her.

They gasp together, their breath mixing between them. Rose's fingers dig into his ribs as he thrusts inside of her and it is almost painful, but he doesn't care.

They move together, temperatures rising, fingers slipping on sweaty skin.

Rose's head falls back and the Doctor watches the way her throat moves as her breathing picks up. He kisses her neck, tasting her sweat with his tongue and she comes, her knees tightening, hands moving down, holding him against her, inside of her. His climax follows seconds after and they lay still a moment, their breathing the only sound in the room, their three hearts pounding a pulse in rhythm.

He finally withdraws and moves to the side, though Rose keeps a tight grip on him, as though she is afraid he will suddenly leave her.

The heat of their passion is slowly dissipating and the Doctor kisses her shoulder. His lips brush her ear as he tells her he loves her, whispering it as if it is a secret. His breath is warm on her neck and she turns her head towards him.

Her lips on his is her response and it is enough for now.


	4. earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Earth is always her home, even if it's another world.

He's taking them somewhere; he won't tell her where, but she trusts him. It will be the first time she's left the TARDIS since he saved her almost a month ago.

She still hasn't said a word and she's not sure why, only that she feels she is not yet ready to speak. It has not been a problem. He can always seem to read her thoughts, her emotions, and know exactly what she needs.

She watches him dance around the console, pulling levers and pushing buttons and giving it the occasional whack with the mallet.

She has missed him more than she'll ever be able to tell him. She's missed watching him work the TARDIS, missed seeing him pop up from under the console, sonic screwdriver in his teeth as he pulls himself out. Missed sitting beside him on the jumpseat when the TARDIS has shifted into her night mode, holding hands and enjoying the silence. Lying in bed together, his arms tight around her, making her feel so safe.

She has it all back now and yet is still afraid of losing it again.

There still remains the mystery of how she alone is left after the destruction of the parallel world, a question she has seen in his eyes but something he only put a voice to last night. It is not something she knows the answer to and she wonders to herself if she even wants to know. She is alive and they are together and that's all she cares about.

The TARDIS lands with a bump, jarring Rose from her thoughts and she grips the edge of the seat, bracing herself.

He smiles at her now and stands in front of her, asking if she's ready. She nods a little hesitantly and he moves aside to allow her room to slide off the seat. She walks to the doors and he is there beside her, comforting in his sheer presence. She takes a breath and then opens the door, stepping out of the TARDIS. He follows her out and watches her as she just stands and stares for a moment.

She is almost overwhelmed by the vibrant blues and greens, the shining city before her, the cars and ships flying overhead.

It is exactly as she remembers and yet it is somehow new.

She closes her eyes against her tears and the Doctor looks at her, anxious and curious. For the first time he does not know what she is thinking.

She turns to him, opening her eyes. She inhales deeply and smiles softly.

"Apple grass," she murmurs, and simply looks at him. He smiles and nods.

"Apple grass," he agrees, and takes her hand.

It isn't much. But it's a start.


End file.
